The importance in relationship with God

If you've clicked on this post, I thank you for giving me a chance! In this post I will be trying to explain how CRUCIAL it is to have a relationship with God, instead of just going through the motions. I wanted to mention that I am not judging, I'm just portraying my thoughts. Hope you enjoy!

Changing your perspective

Let's say you grew up in a Christian home, and you always go to church and say your prayers at night. Have you ever wondered if there was more? there has to be more than just that, right? Yes!

As a child, me and my family always went to church. It was tradition. I always will remember the times where I would get called on to get a prize from the prize box. It was always a joy to go to church and get candy. Most nights, my mom would pray with me and recite a prayer. I can remember most of the words even to this day. I went to church, I prayed, I was good! Me and God were at good terms.

Somewhere around 13 I realized that God could speak back to you through thoughts! My mind was blown! I thought I knew everything about God... I was getting to that age of where I had a choice in life, if I wanted to believe in God or not. I thought I did, until I was confronted. I realized that God was much more than I had originally thought. I pondered this for a while, and came to this conclusion... God is not a puppet master, he's our father. He wants to have a relationship with us.

Let's have a little fun here. I'm going to ask you to completely discard what you know about God. Take his name out of your head for a second. Imagine God as your best friend, the one you could tell anything. Let's say this person's name is Bill. You have a problem, and you want to go to a friend. You would go to Bill, since he is your best friend, and you would tell him everything and he would give you advice on it and love you no matter what you bring to him.

Doesn't that sound nice? A great friend, the one you can always rely on. But here's what's cool... God is your best friend! It might sound crazy, but he is. He's that person you can always rely on, and he'll never judge you.

God/Bill wants you to go to him with your problems, because he cares about you! Changing your perspective on God always helps when you're talking to him. You could try starting your prayers with "Hey man, how've you been?" He would love that!

What now? How does this even help me?

Well, think about it... You and your best friend will overtime grow in relationship and become inseparable. That's the same with God! I've had a few people reply to all this with "But He doesn't talk back to me and sometimes the problem just stays the same." To the first part, I would reply... He does talk back. When you're praying and you ask a question, your thoughts are his answers (Sometimes). I want you to try this, if you're willing... Ask God, "What do you like about me?" and let your thoughts flow. It's as simple as that. If the reply I of the character of God, then it's God. No question.

I'm going to expand on that last part for a bit... If you're like me and your super anxious on if it's God or not, let me help you. In the bible it states that if you have any doubt about him answering or you doubt the answer, then God can't talk to you. You need to be open and willing. Let's say you're not willing, but you want to be. Just ask God to give you the willingness! Still can't hear God? here's the other solution... You won't be able to hear God if you haven't forgiven others. I'm not saying this to guilt you. God wants to help us desperately, but he can't if you have resentments against people.

Ok, onto the next question you might be asking. "What if the problem stays the same and God doesn't change anything." This question is really tough, but I will answer it to the best of my ability. Everything is in God's hand, and he always turns things hurt into something that's good. For example... I've had a very rough childhood, (The hurting thing that God didn't fix or change), BUT, I'm now older and my childhood shaped me into the person I want to be. I wouldn't change my childhood for the world. (The thing that God turns into good).

How to apply this

I'm going to stop laying information on you, because this is a lot so far. I will end this blog post with advice on how to apply this to your life, if you're willing. (Again, it's totally fine if you're not, no pressure). Ok so we talked about changing your perspective. To sum up that part, I would say that changing how you think/feel about God is a very important thing to grow a relationship.

1. I would recommend that you try having a picture of God in your head, a picture that you like. Any picture is fine. All that matters is that you feel safe with Him.
2. Try throwing away the church way of praying. By this I mean... Pray how you want to pray. Be open, be honest... Talk to God like you would talk to a friend. This will help you get more comfortable with God.
3. If your angry with God, lay it on Him! God encourages behavior like that. Let's say you're mad at him because something bad happened to you. Just scream at him! This is very good, even if it sounds weird.

Ok now we also talked about how this would help you. This information can help you if:

1. Your willing
2. You want change
3. Your mad at God
4. You hate God
5. You want a better relationship with God
6. Your tired of going through the motions

If any of these apply to you, this information might just help you!

Conclusion

Thanks so much for giving me a chance to help you! I hope that this helps you! If you disagree with anything that I've stated, or you want to ask a question, then please let me know! Email me at josephandrews1509@gmail.com or shoot me a message here on Lichess!

Have a blessed day, - Joseph
Bill loves you